Want a signed copy of Jean-Du-Sud & the Magick byrd?

So, today’s episode with Yves’ Gelinas’ ‘Jean du Sud & the Magick Byrd.’ I have to give you some background on this - Yves has been a hero of mine since first meeting him way back in 2008 and installing his genius Cape Horn wind vane self-steering on Arcturus. He’s also been a hero more recently to Lee Cumberland, the Sailing Stories’ host & also proud owner of a Cape Horn on Satori, his Tayana 37. Lee & I were discussing ideas for Season 2 of SS last spring, and Yves name popped up. He agreed to do it almost immediately, and Season 2 was born.

It wasn’t that simple though - Yves had both made a movie about his RTW voyage - an all-time classic shot entirely by Yves himself on 16mm film called ‘Around the World with Jean du Sud’ - and written a book about it. Problem for us was the book was only ever published in French! So Lee & I decided to have the French version translated first, then narrated by Yves himself. Lee & his wife Rachel drove up to Quebec earlier this summer and spent a week recording with Yves and exploring French Canada. Once we had a translated version of the book, we thought, ‘why not publish it!?’

SOOO, while we’ve been sailing around Sweden on Isbjorn, I’ve been working behind the scenes to finalize production on the first-ever published book by 59 North, Yves incredible ‘Jean du Sud & the Magic Byrd,’ a beautiful & philosophical book about Yves’ journey to sail solo & nonstop around the world, written in a style I find very similar to the legendary Bernard Moitessier, a sailor I know Yves admired himself. Yves will be joining us at the Annapolis Sailboat Show next week for the duration, and we’ll be selling a limited quantity of his book, signed by Yves himself who will be there for you to meet!

Which brings us back to today’s episode, which is the first chapter of Yves’ book, narrated by Yves himself. ‘Jean du Sud & the Magick Byrd’ will officially launch as Season 2 of Sailing Stories next Thursday, October 5, Day 1 of the Sailboat Show, and run weekly as usually through it’s completion. The show is free to listeners, but we’re again asking for donations if you like it - go to sailingstoriespodcast.com and just click the big blue FUND button.

Lee, Yves & I put a lot of love & a lot of work into this one and we really think you’ll love it!

Hurricane IRMA Update

Thanks to our amazing friends, we’ve raised over $15,000 for Paul Exner & his family in the BVI, and donations are still coming in. Go to 59-north.com/solstice to contribute. Paul hope to be back sailing again by January, so if you want to book a trip with him in what will be a very different Eastern Caribbean this winter, get in touch and I’ll relay the message. I’m also working to help Paul launch his new website and calendar at moderngeographic.com, so check back there in a few weeks for a re-design.

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We have big Weems & Plath news this week that I’ve known about for a while now, but have had to keep a secret. At next weeks’ US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Weems & Plath will be unveiling the Crew Watcher MOB device, a system of beacon and app that is an affordable crew overboard alarm & locator. CrewWatcher is a revolutionary, app-based crew overboard alarm system that is the fastest way to rescue a person who is overboard. The system works like a virtual lifeline and is made up of two components: a smartphone app and a small beacon - about the size of a big tube of chapstick - that can be comfortably worn by each crew. The beacon does not require complex manual activation - rather the alarm will trigger automatically in a Man Overboard (MOB) event, providing lat/long coordinates of the MOB, the time of the event, and will visually guide the rescuer. Very simply, the beacon is constantly sending a small electronic signal to the smartphone/table all the time, creating that ‘lifeline.’ When the beacon gets out of range (pre-programmable depending on boat size), OR when it becomes submerged, it triggers the alarm.

Weems & Plath will be conducting live demonstrations of CrewWatcher from their booth in Tent C during the Annapolis Boat Shows, Oct 5-15, 2017.

The CrewWatcher Single Pack will retail for $89.99, and the CrewWatcher Double Pack will retail for $149.99.

Almost a year ago I went to Weems & Plath to discuss them taking on this idea, having ‘met’ Crew Watcher’s founder Jason Schot online, and they went for it! We’ve been beta-testing the beacon & app on Isbjorn since February, and I can attest that it’s a genius yet simple use of tech to ease your mind when you’re asleep down below & your partner is on deck on watch. The dinghy & bilge alarm adaptability is a no-brainer. This will be standard-issue safety gear on Isbjorn from now on. Check out the details at crewwatcher.com, and make sure to visit Weems & Plath in the ‘C’ tent at next week’s Sailboat Show for a live demo!

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On The Wind is the evolution of 59º North, and is, quite simply, long-form conversations with sailors from around the world. 'On the Wind' Sailing Podcast is informal chats with people from around the world of sailing - tall ship captains, Cape Horners, sailing authors, Volvo Ocean Race skippers, yacht designers, family cruisers, Arctic adventurers and more. Our aim is to define what creates success in the sailing world and figure out how to accomplish dreams on the high seas.